


Nothing teaches us more about who we are...

by Dani



Category: Greek
Genre: Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2013-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-05 17:02:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1096381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dani/pseuds/Dani
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Years after graduation, Evan gets a call from an old friend asking for help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nothing teaches us more about who we are...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SQ (proteinscollide)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/proteinscollide/gifts).



Cappie hesitated over the keys, completely unsure how to proceed.  This was a strange new world: a whole new ballgame.

Casey had tried telling him that they would be the same stories only longer, but she was wrong.  The stories would never be the same again.

People never really think about what happens to characters when they leave their children’s books and grow up.  They don’t just grow older, they grow jaded…bitter.  Look at Harry Potter – Rowling had no clue the kind of suffering she was going to cause that poor boy under the stairs.  She had no idea that her little hero would have to grow beyond his magical world and learn what horror lay underneath.  Maybe she had some concept, but no one ever really knows…not until they see their characters go through it in front of them. 

Now they wanted Cappie to do it – to make the move from children’s novels to young adult, and he wasn’t sure that he could.

 

_“Look Cap, J.P is turning thirteen. You can’t keep sending him on these little kiddie adventures,” Cappie’s agent Ted complained, slamming Cappie’s newest manuscript down on his desk.  “He’s not Peter Pan, he’s growing up.  Chasing ‘Pirates’ through the woods at summer camp with Stevie just isn’t gonna cut it anymore. Don’t you remember what it was like to be thirteen?” Ted waved vaguely in Cappie direction._

_Cappie did remember being thirteen.  He remembered hunting through the forest for pirates at summer camp with Evan.  He remembered finding more than pirates in those woods.  Steam and sweat, bark that bit into Cappie’s back as Evan slid down to his knees and stained his new expensive jeans._

_Cappie couldn’t write that in a children’s book though, could he? He never realized how young they had actually been until he was old enough to be shocked by it. J.P was too young, his relationship with Stevie was far too innocent, and kids didn’t need more exposure to things they were far too young for._

_Besides, Cappie’s daughters loved J.P’s adventures.  The thought of his girls reading a more realistic telling of the stories made Cappie feel vaguely ill._

_“So what do you suggest?” Cappie growled. He had no idea.  As far as he was concerned, the stories really didn’t change format until he left his family and started university._

_Ted paused in thought for a long moment before brightening suddenly. “Romance.”_

_Cappie burst out laughing, nearly choking on the power of it. Taking a sip of the water that Ted had given him at the start of the meeting, Cappie shook his head.  “With who? Stevie??” Continuing to laugh, Cappie relaxed back into his chair. “Because in case you haven’t noticed, J.P’s lifestyle doesn’t exactly lend itself to repeat characters. Thirty-three books and Stevie is the only series regular….and that’s mostly through correspondence with only a handful of actual appearances in the summer.”_

_Cappie knew Ted wouldn’t seriously think anything could happen with Stevie.  It just wouldn’t occur to him, despite how obvious it might seem to some. Hell, they let the skinny dipping scene in the last book go without a murmur of protest. Just boys being boys._

_“So? Introduce a girl.” Ted said it as though it was the easiest thing in the world, as though Cappie could just wave his hand and the entire structure of his fictional world would just flawlessly re-weave itself to encompass something that was completely counter-intuitive to everything that had been established so far.  Yeah, no problem, just introduce a girl…right._

_“Yeah? And what about when the summer ends and he starts traveling again?  Are his parents just supposed to bring her along for the ride?” Though he did try, Cappie couldn’t keep the condescension out of his tone.  He really hated it when people who had no idea about what happened tried to tell him how the story should go._

_Sighing, Ted flipped through the manuscript again.  It was a nervous twitch of his. Cappie noticed it during their third meeting and had been watching for it ever since._

_“Look Cap, the publishers want to end the series with this summer. They think it has come as far as it’s going to go in that format.”_

_Now Cappie was really paying attention. He could feel a twist of terror in his gut._

_“What?!” He exclaimed, his whole body jolting to the edge of his seat. “They can’t do that!  It’s a very popular series!  Kids love it!  They can’t just kill it like that!”_

_“They aren’t planning on killing your series, Cap.” Ted tried to talk him down, tossing Cappie a pack of gum after taking one for himself. “They are right, though. This monster-a-week, episodic setup is too juvenile. J.P has grown out of it and so has your audience.  The higher-ups want you to write a young adult series. Stabilize the character, give him friends, let him fall in love. J.P deserves to have a good adolescence.”_

_Cappie did have a good adolescence. He had to restrain himself from shouting it in Ted’s face.  The only thing stopping him was the knowledge that Ted had no clue how true to life the stories actually were._

_In spite of Cappie’s resistance, though, images were already starting to form in his head: a school, a girl with blond hair, a fight that turned beloved friends into bitter rivals.  Cappie wasn’t sure he was ready to tell that story yet. He shouldn’t have to, it was years away._

_“And if I don’t?” Cappie challenged, shoving down the images that had begun to bombard his mind._

_Shaking his head sadly, Ted held out the manuscript for Cappie to take. “Then this’ll be J.P’s last adventure. Make it a good one,” he advised with an encouraging smile._

_Cappie took the manuscript and walked out._

Groaning in frustration, Cappie pushed his chair away from the computer desk and walked purposefully towards the kitchen.  He had more important things to do right now, like cleaning the oven. 

 

\--

 

Evan was sitting in his office when the call came. 

It was a day like any other – contracts were stacked in piles, waiting to make their way to his various clients all over the city with the first courier that morning.  Legal texts lined his mahogany shelves around the perimeter of his office.  The letterhead scattered around the space bore the name ‘Chambers’ – not for Evan, but for his grandfather. Still, everyone – Evan included – expected him to make partner by the end of the year. 

Once again, Evan was a legacy. He was doing the Chambers name proud, though not in politics. That had been his parents’ dream, not his, and the funny thing about being in law school was that Evan unexpectedly realized he actually enjoyed the law.  It was like the most high-stakes game of one-upmanship in the world.

His grandfather was so proud.

Evan was double-checking a couple of clauses when the phone rang. 

“Hello?  Evan Chambers speaking,” he answered, his attention still on the paperwork in front of him. 

“Evan, I need your help.”

Suddenly, Evan’s back straightened.  The papers that had held his attention so raptly just a moment before now lay forgotten on the desk in front of him. 

“Dean Bowman?”

The dean’s voice sounded shaky and unfocused.  “They found out…I don’t know how they found out, but they did and now I’ve…I’ve been fired.  God, Evan, I don’t know what to do.”

Letting out a long breath, Evan grabbed a blank pad of paper from his side drawer and started jotting down a few notes.  The idea of simply not helping never even occurred to him.  

“We can release a statement to the media denying the allegations… then we’ll turn around and sue for libel. There’s no way they can prove otherwise, and it’ll be your word against theirs. Then we’ll sue for wrongful dismissal and get your job back.”

He could already picture it all coming together in his head: the arguments and counter arguments, how to spin the story in the press to make the university look ridiculous and backwards. This was what Evan was good at. This was where he shone. There was no doubt in his mind that he could make this happen. 

There was a long silence on the other end of the line. 

“I would have to lie,” Bowman said finally. 

It wasn’t a question, but Evan felt compelled to answer anyway.  “Yeah,” he said meekly, feeling a bit of doubt start to make its way into his grand scheme.  The whole plan rested on Bowman’s willingness to lie. 

Dean Bowman made a small noise of consideration, as though truly thinking things through for the first time. 

“No.”

“…What?” Evan’s pen stilled.

A deep breath came over the line, and then Bowman spoke again.  “I do want to sue for wrongful dismissal. They had no right firing me…but I’m tired of lying, Evan. God, I’m so tired of lying.”

Putting down his pen, Evan rubbed his now-free hand over his eyes and down his face.  “That’ll make things harder,” he offered non-committally. “I can’t guarantee we’ll win.”

“Sometimes—” Dean Bowman seemed to need to take a breath before starting again.  “Sometimes, Evan, the truly good things in life are worth the risk. They’re worth the struggle. Will you fight with me for this?” His calm had returned to him: the same calm assuredness that Evan had always found so inspiring about him. 

Truly, Evan was surprised he even had to ask. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

 

\--

 

“Alright, if there aren’t any more questions, we can adjourn this meeting.”

Casey held her breath, hoping that for once they could just finish a meeting on time without somebody feeling the need to air their grievances to the room for hours on end. 

No such luck; Lucy, the bane of Casey’s current ZBZ existence, put up her hand. Damn Lucy and her bordering-on-psychotic obsession with fundraisers.  They were the Zeta Beta Zeta grand council, for God’s sake. They had some of the most affluent alumni in the country – they did not need to run galas every month just to make ends meet. 

Casey took a deep breath to keep from snapping at her. God, sometimes these meetings were so much like being back at CRU, it was almost scary.

After finishing off her law degree in Washington, Casey had tried her hand at politics. Heck, she would go so far as to say that she had been succeeding at it. 

But then the ‘buts’ started: But then the girls were born, but then the hours were too long, but she missed too many firsts to follow her career while Cappie supportively played the stay-at-home dad so she could follow her dream…but her dream wasn’t nearly as satisfying as she thought it would be, and she found herself spending more and more time wishing for something else.

When a job on the ZBZ national council was offered to her on a silver platter, she jumped at the chance.  Whoever said ‘you can never go home again’ had clearly never belonged to a pink-attired, cat-loving sorority. They welcomed her back with open arms and she’d never been happier….with a few minor exceptions.

“Lucy, I’ve told you before: we can’t do a gala every month, and we just had one,” Casey answered, without actually giving her a chance to speak, and wondering for the millionth time how Lucy had even managed to snag a seat on the council.

Lucy flashed Casey a Cheshire grin.  “That wasn’t what I was going to ask,” she said pointedly. “Though I do stand by my position that there can never be too many galas, and every month provides wonderful thematic opportunities.”

Internally rolling her eyes, Casey ceded the floor to Lucy. Everyone on the council had a right to speak, after all.  “Alright, what did you want to talk about?”

Smirking, Lucy cleared her throat.  “I just think we need to address the scandal that is going on in Cyprus-Rhodes University. Our chapter there has requested our guidance on how to proceed in light of what’s been going on, and…wait a moment, wasn’t that your alma mater, Casey?” Lucy asked, much too innocently for Casey to have any doubt that Lucy already knew the answer to that question. She even rustled through her papers for good measure. “Ah, yes, here it is: Casey Cartwright, Cyprus-Rhodes. Well, you should have a particular insight into this matter, then, shouldn’t you Casey?”  

Lucy’s grin just grew more triumphant as Casey sat frozen, completely unsure as to what Lucy was even talking about, let alone how to proceed.

“You are aware of what’s been going on, aren’t you Casey?” She smirked. “It was all over the news just last night!” Sounding far too scandalized to be sincere, Lucy scanned the room to see if everyone was buying it.  Much to Casey disgust, they seemed to be.

“Yes, of course I’m aware,” Casey snapped. Keeping track of the news was part of her job, but Leigh had had a fever last night, so she’d skipped it.  From the lack of blank faces around the room, clearly she was the only one. 

Rallying, Casey smiled a brilliant, confident, Casey Cartwright smile. “Our girls all have solid heads on their shoulders and good hearts. Frankly, I think we should trust the judgement of our younger sisters to make their own decision on this matter.” Casey’s gaze swept the room, daring anyone to challenge her.

Of course, Lucy accepted the dare. Somehow looking even more smug, Lucy just put down her clipboard and held Casey’s gaze. “That’s a surprisingly neutral, even charitable, stance given the issue at hand…your lenience wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that your ex-boyfriend is neck-deep in this scandal…would it?” She finished sweetly, enjoying watching Casey stew.

Well…fuck.

 

\--

 

Hurrying out of the meeting, Casey pulled out her cell phone while flagging over her assistant from across the room. 

Predictably, the phone was answered first.

“Casey, what do you think of ‘J.P. goes to space’?” Cappie asked as soon as he picked up.

“No,” Casey said simply before moving on to what she really needed to talk to him about.  “And I can’t talk about that right now…Cap, have you heard of any scandal involving Evan or CRU?”

“Mmm…nope,” Cappie said around a mouthful of something. “What about J.P. and Stevie’s undersea adventures?”

“No.” Casey bit back a smile.

She could hear Cappie scribbling out something and then swallowing hard. “I could call Evanescence if you want. Check in, and whatnot,” he suggested with an audible shrug.

“That would be great, Cap, thanks!”  Casey nodded a greeting to Annabelle, her assistant. “Look, I’ve gotta go. Good luck with your writing, and remember: think normal.”

Snickering, Cappie took another bite.  “Yeah…normal…right.”

“Bye, sweetie!” Casey hung up her phone. 

Annabelle smiled sweetly, obviously enjoying the phone call.  “What can I do for you, Ms. Cartwright?” 

“I need you to find out everything you can about Cyprus-Rhodes University and what’s been going on there in the last week or so.  Also, look up Evan Chambers and see what he’s been up to lately.”

“Right away, Ms. Cartwright,” Annabelle nodded, hurrying past Casey towards her desk.

Turning, she called after her, “Thank you, Annabelle!”  Vowing to get her a very nice Christmas bonus, Casey went to her office to do her own research.

Flipping on the TV, Casey went straight to the 24-hour news stations.  If this story was as big as Lucy implied, it would probably still be playing. 

She flipped through the stations, landing on Fox News where sure enough, the first shot she saw had Evan walking through what looked to be some kind of park with several microphones in his face.           

"What has happened to this man is an atrocity," Evan stated firmly as he stopped to talk to them, glaring forward as though wishing to be left alone. "After being the Dean of Cyprus-Rhodes for nearly three decades and receiving countless commendations for his performance, this man has been dismissed for no valid reason relating to his job or his capacity to perform it."     

"What about the allegations that Mr. Bowman was involved in illicit sexual activity?" One of the reporters shouted, cutting Evan off. 

"Mr. Bowman," Evan snarled, glaring at the reporter, "has been in a committed relationship since he was in college. He has never been with anyone else, nor would he ever want to be. The only thing that has drawn comment about this situation is because he is in a relationship with the two people he loves most in the world...and frankly, we should all be so lucky."  Evan gave up talking and kept pushing his way forward. He had clearly had enough of this. 

Chattering rang out amongst the crowd of reporters, as though they really weren't expecting him to actually admit it. He had gone so far as to actively endorse it.

"Are you saying that you approve?" Another reporter asked, clearly hoping that Evan would spell it out for the camera and posterity.

Evan stopped again, looking straight at the reporter who had asked the question.  He seemed somehow calmer than he had been just a moment before. "I'm saying…that it is possible to love more than one person in your lifetime. I'm saying that sometimes you meet them both at once, and if you're really, really lucky, they will love each other as much as they love you and you love them...and that if you're even luckier, you can make it work, the three of you, together. Dean Bowman is probably the luckiest man on Earth and I envy him that. So, yes, in this case, I approve. Not everyone is as lucky as he is, or as loved." With that, Evan walked away. The crowd of reporters seemed almost paralyzed. They just let him go. 

Not wanting to listen to the pundits’ take on Evan’s words, Casey sat at her desk and buried her head in her arms. Well, that explained a few things.

 

\--

 

Cappie gave his computer one last, sullen look before walking out of his office to use the phone in the kitchen. At this point, he would take any excuse to procrastinate.

Sitting down on one of the kitchen chairs, he dialled the number that he had memorized years ago, but didn’t use nearly enough.

“Hello; Richards, Collins, and Chambers Associates at Law. How may I help you?”

Cappie smiled.  “Is that your beautiful voice I hear, Lady Eleanor?” he poured on the charm, twisting the coiled phone cord around his index finger. 

“Oh, Cappie,” she said a little breathlessly. “It’s always a pleasure to talk to you! But I’m afraid Evan isn’t here anymore…”

“Oh?” Cappie had an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach. “Where is he?”

Eleanor dropped into a whisper, as though afraid someone might overhear her. “Oh, it’s just awful.  I’m not supposed to say anything, but he quit yesterday morning.  It was such a scene, too. The senior partners wanted him to drop a case and he refused and stormed out. Oh, Cappie, there was so much yelling. He didn’t even stop by his office to say goodbye or take any of his things: he just stormed off.”

Blinking, Cappie couldn’t even process what he was hearing. “Evan quit the law firm?  Are we talking about the same Evan Chambers?”

“That’s the one.  Believe me, no one is more shocked than the senior partners,” Eleanor said earnestly.

Biting on his thumbnail, Cappie hesitated before asking, “Do you know where he is right now?”

“Oh, yes, I booked his ticket before everything happened.  He’s gone to Ohio, to Cyprus-Rhodes University.” Eleanor said pleasantly.

Nodding his head, Cappie said his goodbyes. Then he looked helplessly around the room, wondering what he was supposed to do next.

 

\--

 

It had been two hours since Evan’s last, disastrous meet-up with the press on his way through the CRU campus.  Dean Bowman had been strongly encouraged not to come back to the school, but they couldn’t keep Evan away: he was a well-respected and wealthy alumnus after all.

After the impromptu press junket, he had stopped in at Omega Chi, to pay his respects and hopefully get some support from them. He also made his way to Kappa Tau, knowing that if anyone would be likely to stand behind the Dean on this issue, it would be them.  Otherwise, Greek Row just seemed incredibly unsure. They had never been faced with a major issue like this before and they were all afraid to act, for fear of penalties from their governing bodies.

Having been a president and been on Pan-Hellenic, Evan could understand their hesitation.  If he was truly honest with himself, he probably didn’t even need the Greek system behind him on this. 

Before he had even made it to the campus…hell before Dean Bowman had even called him, there had been student protests in the works. The student body as a whole were largely supportive of the Dean and they wanted him back. 

It irked Evan, though, not to have the Greek support. The Greek system had always been school leaders, and to see them so silent in the face of something so important to the rest of the school was frustrating to say the least. That’s why Evan had made an appointment to speak with the Pan-Hellenic board.  Maybe if he could convince them, they could break this apparent stalemate they were trapped in.

Walking past the coffee cart, he stopped for a drink. Maybe it was just a fit of nostalgia, but Evan couldn’t count the number of times that he had ordered from this cart in his younger days, nor had he ever been able to match its quality. He was just sitting down at one of the outdoor tables when his cell phone started ringing. Cringing slightly, he pulled it out of his pocket, afraid to look at the caller display. He had been getting non-stop calls from his parents since he left his job. It was like the trust fund debacle all over again. 

Not recognizing the number, Evan answered curiously. “Hello?”

“Evs!  How’s it going man?”

“Cappie?” He put down his drink and leaned forward over his table.  “…It’s good to hear from you!  How are you?”

“Not bad, not bad. Dost my ears deceive me, or do I hear the sweet sounds of our dear alma mater?” Cappie extolled wistfully. “If I’m not mistaken, you’re imbibing caffeinated ambrosia from our old friends at the coffee cart, am I right?”

Blinking, Evan looked around out of habit. “How did you know that?”

“I know all.” Cappie sounded far too smug. “You should know that by now. You, sitting there all alone…probably at the corner table, if the birds are anything to go by….”

Swallowing another mouthful of coffee, Evan relaxed back into his chair. “You’re full of it, there’s no way you know that. You’re just guessing.”

“Am I, Evan? Am I?” Cappie waxed poetical with a sort of hurt wistfulness.

Laughing, Evan took another mouthful of coffee.  “Alright, if you’re so smart…what am I wearing?”

“Oooh, kinky. Evan, I expected better of you. And in public, too!” Cappie’s faux-scandalized scolding was enough to make Evan choke a little on his drink, barely managing to force it down without spewing it across the table.

Once his coughing settled into more of a spluttering, Evan took another deep breath.  “Honestly though, why are you calling me? Not to cut this short or anything, but I have an appointment in about 40 minutes that I need to get ready for.”

All of a sudden, someone plunked himself down in the chair across from Evan. “Well, this is a big campus, so I figured calling you would save me hours of searching.” Cappie grinned.  “Miss me?”

Evan jumped up. “Cap!  What are you doing here??”  He came around for a quick hug in greeting and then sat back down. “How did you even get here?”

 Reaching over and stealing Evan’s coffee, Cappie took a long swallow. “Well, Casey saw you on the news, and I talked to your dear former assistant, the lady Eleanor, then Casey and I talked, then we called in a favour with a friend dear to all of our hearts, Senator Logan, and here I am: ready to fight the good fight, stand up to injustice, and ask you…Dean Bowman has really been having threesomes for the last two decades??  That’s awesome!!”

Sitting blinking for a moment, Evan tried to figure out which part of that speech he was actually supposed to react to.  “…And how’s Rebecca doing?” he settled for, finding that to be the most comfortable answer he could come up with.

“Oh, she’s good. Wants you to call her. Is pissed that you did something this scandalous without giving her a heads up…you know, the usual.” Cappie finished Evan’s coffee with gusto and sent the cup sailing towards the garbage.  It went in.  “So, where do we start?”

Deciding to not look a gift horse in the mouth, Evan just pulled out his notebook and started running through things. “Things have already started. The students have already planned rallies in support of the Dean. There have been class walk outs, sit-ins at the presidents office, the works.”

Nodding, Cappie pulled a sucker out of his pocket and examined it as he listened intently. 

Evan stared for a moment before pulling his eyes away and going back to his notes. “The only ones who haven’t commented one way or the other are the Greeks, and it’s likely they are waiting for orders from on high.”

“Yeah, Casey says that ZBZ ‘requested guidance on how to proceed’.”  Cappie shrugged, putting the sucker in his mouth and moving it into his cheek while he finger quoted.

Evan jotted a note to that effect. “I’m hoping that if I can meet with pan-Hellenic and get them to agree to help as a whole before nationals say not to…well they can’t penalize every fraternity and sorority for listening to pan-Hellenic, can they?”

Cappie scratched his nose.  “It’ll take a big leap of faith on the part of pan-Hellenic though, because you’re right, the entire Greek system can’t be held accountable, but pan-Hellenic sure could be.”

“It’s the right thing to do, Cap.” Evan ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “People have been treating the Dean like he’s some kind of sexual deviant, like he molests children or sleeps with students.  He has been in love with the same people since high school, they’ve been together since they graduated college…It’s disgusting that people can be married and have affairs and nobody bats an eye, but three people in a committed relationship get treated so poorly.”

A shadow seemed to pass over Cappie’s face for a second as he took a final suck on the sucker and pulled it out of his mouth. “Well…that’s awfully open-minded of you,” he said neutrally.

Evan looked at Cappie curiously. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Cappie shook his head as though to try and clear it like an etch-a-sketch. “Never mind…when’s the meeting with pan-Hellenic?”

“No, I want to know what you meant.” Evan could feel anger started to boil inside him.  How dare Cappie imply that Evan was some kind of bigot?

Cappie sighed. “Look, it’s nothing. I was just a little surprised that someone with your upbringing would be so open to alternate family dynamics…That’s all I meant.”

“I have always been open-minded. Who took Calvin on as a little brother? Me. Who supported him while he was having a big secret relationship in Omega Chi? Me.” Evan stood up and angrily started gathering up his things.

Cappie stood up too. “Yeah, you have one gay friend in an era when that is becoming an accepted norm. Forgive me for not taking the leap into assuming that you would be supportive of a majorly unconventional lifestyle.”

“You know what, Cappie? Thanks for coming out, but I don’t need your help after all.  Give my regards to your wife,” Evan spat as he flung his bag over his shoulder and started marching towards the pan-Hellenic meeting room. He didn’t have time for this bullshit.

 

\--

 

Standing in front of pan-Hellenic, Evan started to feel nervous for the first time. Quite a crowd showed up to hear him speak, not just the members of the board but contingents from each of the houses were present as well. Maybe it had something to do with all the youthful faces looking up at him, the fact that they looked so unsure, so vulnerable…or maybe it was because, for the first time, Evan didn’t have a single friend in the pan-Hellenic chamber.

“Look, I could re-hash every reason that the firing of Dean Bowman was unjust. I could bring up all his years of exemplary service, the countless hours of volunteer work he’s done for the school…the sheer amount of heart that he has put into this place and into all of us. I could do that, but I’m not going to because frankly you know it all, already.  Those facts have been posted around the school all week, and you would have had to have your heads buried pretty deep in the sand to miss it.” Evan cast his gaze around the room, making sure to lock eyes with every member of the board.

“I could also bring up what a friend Dean Bowman has been to the Greek system over the years. I could tell story after story of Dean Bowman coming to the defence of the Greek system when it was in need…when _we_ were in need, and how he has single-handedly saved our way of life more times than any of us can truly even say…but I’m not going to talk about that, either.” Behind him, Evan could hear the door quietly open and shut.  Without even looking, he knew Cappie had just walked into the room and slid into a chair at the back. 

Despite their fight, Evan felt better knowing he was there. “I could remind you all that Dean Bowman wasn’t just an employee of Cyprus-Rhodes University, but that he was a well-respected alumnus of our institution as well. As a student here, he was recognized as one of the best and brightest of his year. He has single-handedly donated over half of his personal wealth to the school, giving us funding for new resources and buildings…but I’m not going to say that either. Like I said before, you know all of this and if you didn’t know all of this then you are clearly out of touch with the realities of this school.” He cast another pointed look around the room.

“What I am going to tell you is that none of that should matter. It shouldn’t matter that he is a pillar of this school, it shouldn’t matter that he has given us so much and we’ve turned our backs on him.” Evan made sure his tone was accusatory on that line. “What happened to this man was wrong.”

There was a spattering of applause from the back of the room. Evan was pretty sure that it was coming from the Kappa Tau contingent.

“His personal life had absolutely no effect on his professional one. Dean Bowman didn’t flaunt his relationships; he kept his private life private. If someone hadn’t maliciously plastered his private life out to the masses, Dean Bowman would still be working hard to make this school a better place: not for himself, but for us.  Beyond being a good man, he was a great employee and there was no justifiable reason for his dismissal besides bigotry and hatred for something that was really nobody’s business. Everyone involved is perfectly consensual in this situation, and no one was hurt, so really, it should have been their own business.”

Taking a deep breath, Evan shuffled his notes as a way of getting his thoughts back in order. “If anyone in this room can look me in the eye and tell me that you have never done anything that you _aren’t_ ashamed of, but would rather not let your boss know about…then fine, don’t support Dean Bowman. But if you’ve ever smoked pot, questioned your sexuality or your identity, taken a nude photo for a loved one, done something kinkier than missionary in the bedroom…heck, had sex at all, then you should stand by this man. Because whenever any of us were hurt or scared, whenever we questioned ourselves or our values, whenever our private lives were put on display to the derision of the public as a whole…It was Dean Bowman who stood by us.” Closing his book, Evan let silence reign in the room for a long moment.

Seconds later, the room had erupted into a deafening applause that seemed to shake the table and chairs with the sheer force of it.

The pan-Hellenic members were murmuring and nodding back and forth between themselves, steeling themselves to present their conclusions. Finally, the head of the pan-Hellenic board banged his gavel on the table to try to restore order to the room. 

Once the noise had quieted down, he looked at Evan. “A lot of people assume that if you can convince pan-Hellenic, then you’ve convinced the Greek system; that somehow our decisions are imposed upon the different houses and they have to blindly follow…but that’s not the case at all. We’re elected to represent the will of the houses, not the other way around. To convince pan-Hellenic, you have to convince the Greeks, and that’s what you’ve done. Congratulations, Mr. Chambers, you have our support.” He swallowed and when he next spoke, his tone had dropped some of his formality. “And on a more personal note, let the Dean know that we miss him and are looking forward to his return to us.”

Evan smiled.  “I’ll let him know.”

With one last nod, the board leader looked out at the crowd again, his authoritarian tone had returned.  “And with that, I think we can call this meeting to a close.”

Applause erupted again, this time with cheering and yelling to go with it.  Evan turned for the first time and looked at Cappie.

Cappie was clapping the loudest and was looking at Evan with only pride in his eyes.

 

\--

 

The burgers in this restaurant were greasy, but to Cappie they were delicious.  He wasn’t sure how Evan was handling it.  He wasn’t eating quite as enthusiastically as Cappie, but he wasn’t complaining either.  It was as good a place as any to stop for a bite after the meeting. 

“That was quite a speech you did in pan-Hellenic. Think it’ll work?”  Cappie asked, taking a big bite of his burger. 

Evan slumped in his seat.  “Honestly, I don’t know.  It’s one thing to have the student body on your side; it’s another thing entirely to force upper management to change their minds.  All I know is that I did the best I could for him, and that’s all I really can do.”

“Well your speech was epic.  Even if it doesn’t work, if nothing else Dean Bowman can at least know that every student at that school has his back. For someone like him, that would probably be an amazing comfort,” Cappie offered.

“Not as great a comfort as a regular pay check from a job he loves.” Evan put down his burger suddenly and took a long swallow of his soda. “Since I have you here, I’ve got to ask….what’s next for J.P and Steven?” he asked, changing the subject.

Cappie choked on his burger, coughing and sputtering.  It was only after a few gulps of his own drink that the obstruction cleared and he could breathe normally.  Even so, Cappie knew that he couldn’t keep the stunned look off his face. “How did you know about that?”

Laughing, Evan jokingly tossed a fry in Cappie’s direction. “It wasn’t hard to figure out.  The first clue was that the protagonist on the cover was the spitting image of my best friend when he was a kid. Once I picked up the first book, though, there was absolutely nothing in there I didn’t recognize. God, Cap, couldn’t you have taken some artistic liberties somewhere?  I mean, you could have left out my unfortunate retainer incident.”

“Oh, come on,” Cappie grinned. “It was adorable. Everyone thought so, both at the time and in the books – one of the most talked about scenes in the series.” 

“It was embarrassing and I wish you had just let it die.” Evan glowered, but took another bite of his hamburger.  “Seriously though, those books are addictive and I’ve been dying to read the next one, but the release date keeps getting pushed back…what gives?”

Sighing, Cappie started fidgeting with his straw wrapper.  “Honestly, I don’t know.  I wanted to write the typical format…you know, one off adventure, another summer at camp Kitchiwawa, that sort of thing.  The publishers want me to end the series though, and start a new one where J.P. grows up and meets a girl and crap like that…stuff that didn’t really happen until CRU.  I mean, that’s years away, J.P. has a lot more adventures before he gets to that point.”  Crumpling the wrapper and tossing it to the side, Cappie slumped in his seat.  “So, yeah, I don’t know what to do.”

Evan took another drink and seemed to be thinking for a moment.  “Honestly, Cap? You had a weird childhood.”

Blinking, Cappie looked at Evan curiously.  “Thanks?”  He asked, not sure how to take that.

“What I mean is, it probably wouldn’t hurt to give J.P some of those experiences earlier.  I fell in love at about J.P’s age, so it wouldn’t be completely out of place.  You have to remember, despite the similarities…J.P isn’t you - he’s fictional.  You don’t have to follow your life path exactly.”  Evan finished his burger and brushed some crumbs off his hands.  “Send him to school…I went to boarding school, J.P could join Steven there and then he could meet….”  Evan looked around for inspiration, then just shrugged and gave up. “Sandy. He could meet Sandy at a party and they could fall in love, the rest practically writes itself.”

Cappie shrugged.  “I don’t know…it just seems wrong somehow.  It almost feels like I’m cheating, you know?”

“Cap, what matters more?  Being historically accurate when we’re the only two that would know, or actually having a book series?”  Evan finished off his drink.  “Just tell the story, Cappie. The ballad of J.P. and Sandy deserves to be told.”

“And our story doesn’t?  My adolescence is the ballad of J.P and Stevie. I don’t have a right to just cut that out like it has no value.” Though Cappie left it unsaid, he was sure they both heard that he meant to say ‘I don’t have a right to cut _you_ out.’  “Besides, once J.P meets Sandy…everything goes wrong between him and Stevie. I’m not sure I’m ready for it to come to that.”

Evan looked down and away before bringing his eyes back to Cappie again, and offering him a small smile.  “What can I say? I’m not the love of your life, Cap…and J.P. deserves to be in love.  Write a love story, make it epic…the rest will take care of itself.”

Cappie didn’t know what to say to that, so he just sat there as Evan gathered up his garbage and made to leave. 

Pulling Cappie up, Evan gripped him tightly in a hug. “Thank you for coming…I couldn’t have done this without you.”

“Yeah, you could have.”  Cappie squeezed him back.  “I was just there to see the show.” 

Evan pulled back.  “Well, regardless, I appreciate it....”

They didn’t say goodbye. Not really. Evan just gave Cappie one last look before turning and walking out of the dinner. 

Sliding back in his seat, Cappie looked at the remnants of his dinner and found himself just as blocked as when he started.

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, this story grew to be far more involved than I ever intended and was taking me far longer to write than I had planned for. As the deadline was fast approaching, I needed to end the story a lot sooner than I intended so that I wouldn't risk defaulting, but I had intended it to go considerably longer and in a slightly different direction. Though this story can certainly stand on its own, I may end up continuing it with some kind of sequel at a later date to try to bring it more inline with the original intent. Until then, I hope my recipient enjoys the story as it is and has a very wonderful and happy Yule.


End file.
